New COVID-19 vaccination site to open at Burns Road Community Center in Palm Beach Gardens

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Palm Beach County's newest mass COVID-19 vaccination site will open on Wednesday morning.

Officials said about 500 people will be vaccinated at the Burns Road Community Center, located at 4404 Burns Road in Palm Beach Gardens, on Wednesday and Thursday.

By Friday, the goal is to ramp up to 1,000 shots.

"We'll determine future days and times for vaccinations on a week-by-week basis, depending upon vaccine supply," said Darcy Davis, the CEO of the Health Care District of Palm Beach County.

The Burns Road Community Center site is set to open on Wednesday at 9 a.m. and vaccinations will be appointment only.

WATCH NEWS CONFERENCE:

"We're hoping because we have a north end location, our north end seniors are going to be coming here and not have to travel down to the Fairgrounds or south county," said Commissioner Maria Marino, whose district represents Palm Beach Gardens.

The site will be run by the Health Care District of Palm Beach County and will complement the county's two other mass COVID-19 vaccination sites at the South Florida Fairgrounds and South County Civic Center.

"Because of the building being here and because this was a closed POD several weeks ago, we knew we had a location that was going to be successful," Marino said,

Nick Lemongelli and his wife were lucky enough to get vaccinated at that point of distribution and stay close to home.

"I have friends of mine that drove all the way up to Orlando to get their injections," Lemongelli said. "We were fortunate."

"The city of Palm Beach Gardens has a contract with the county through the end of August, and if need be, if we need it longer, we can extend the contract," Marino said.

The Health Care District of Palm Beach County said it's streamlining the appointment request process for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Anyone 65 and older can click here and complete an appointment request form. You'll then be placed into a "virtual waiting room" until vaccines become available.

"We are continuing to prioritize those on the Department of Health waiting list, but we recognize some of these individuals may also be getting stuck in the process," Davis said.

If you're already on the Florida Department of Health's waiting list to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, you'll check a specific box on the Health Care District's online appointment request form.

"This will alert us that they were on the original list, and we'll continue to give them priority placement in open appointments," Davis said.

If you have any questions about the appointment request process, call the Health Care District of Palm Beach County at 561-804-4115.

According to the latest numbers from the Florida Department of Health, 252,413 people have received the COVID-19 vaccine in Palm Beach County, which is second only to Miami-Dade County where 277,379 people have been inoculated.